SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – After day one of competition at the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Championships, the Castleton University wrestling program sits in a tie for fourth place and has five wrestlers through to the semifinal round of their respective championship brackets.
 
Michael Gonyea, James Rodriguez, Michael Angers, Cooper Fleming and Chance LaPier remain in contention for their respective weight class titles, while Nicholas Roeger and Shea Garand remain in contention for Castleton on the consolation side of the bracket.
 
At 133 pounds, Gonyea opened with a quick pin of WPI's Antonios Sevastos in 1:19. He moved on to the semifinal round with a 9-0 major decision, shutting out Wesleyan's Max Martinez. He will face Roger Williams' Kyle Kaiser—the No. 4 133-pounder in the nation—for a trip to the regional title bout. Rodriguez won a pair of decisions at 141 pounds to earn his way to the bracket's final four unbeaten, besting Western New England's Colby Reilly and Trinity's Chris Perry. He will go head-to-head with Joe Rossetti of Williams for a spot in the title matchup. Rossetti is currently ranked No. 12 in the nation at 141 pounds.
 
At 165 pounds, Angers topped Plymouth State's Tyler Miller with a 4-2 decision to open the day before shutting out Johnson & Wales' Scott DeFex, 4-0, to advance to the semifinals. Angers draws Phil Rogers of Coast Guard—the No. 5 165-pounder in Divison III—for a trip to the 165-pound championship match. Fleming defeated Western New England's CJ Glaropoulos with a 12-0 major decision before going toe-to-toe with the No. 2 174-pounder in the region—Wesleyan's Marco Gaita. Fleming notched a late takedown, stunning Gaita with a 6-4 decision victory to advance to the semifinal round. Fleming and Merchant Marine's Dominick Esposito, who is ranked 11th at 174 pounds nationally, will duke it out in the semifinals.
 
LaPier was a force at 197 pounds, cruising to a second-period technical fall, 17-2 in his opener against Trinity's Timothy Glynn. The bout included four takedowns and a pair of four-point near-falls. He followed that up with a 6-1 win over Western New England's Darby McLaughlin, the only point allowed coming on a late third-period escape with the match firmly in hand. LaPier has arguably the toughest draw for the Spartans on day two, facing off with the No. 3 ranked 197-pounder—Coast Guard's Coy Spooner—in the semifinal round. Spooner is unbeaten this season at 19-0.
 
Roeger won his first bout of the day, 5-4, notching a thrilling takedown with just 11 seconds left in his match to claim the victory over USM's Colby Frost. He ran into a tough opponent in the NEWA No. 3 Kyle Merrit of Norwich, falling in a 6-0 decision. In his first consolation bout, Roeger bested Western New England's Cam Hines, 7-3. He will face the loser of the first semifinal Sunday. Garand won his first match of the day over RIC's Edison Guarcas with a 4:58 pin, but lost his next match 11-1 to NYU's Will Ortman. He followed with back-to-back wins in the consolation bracket over Western New England's Griffin Ostrom (Fall, 1:01) and WPI's Chris Gens (Dec. 11-6). Garand will face the loser of the second semifinal Sunday.